The Planetarium

Warwick's Astrophysics group are the proud owners of an inflatable planetarium dome, along with a number of short films that we can use in outreach events. Our dome is run and staffed by a mixture of volunteers from our PhD and post-doctoral researchers, all of whom are excited to share their knowledge and fascination about the universe!

With our range of shows, and the expertise of our volunteers, we can accommodate all ages in our visits - even parents!

Booking the Dome

If you would like to arrange a visit from our outreach team, we would be happy to hear from you! Please email us with details of your request (year group, number of students, and school address).

There are a few requirements for the dome that we need to be met in order to run a visit:

We are able to organise visits to locations within approximately a 45 minute drive of campus.

We require a large room to host the dome; at least 7m * 7m floor space, and a ceiling of at least 3m. The room must have accessible power sockets too.

Setting up and taking down the dome isn't quick! We ask to have one hour to set up and sort out teething troubles, then 30 minutes to pack away at the end of the day. Due to this, we cannot pack and then reassemble the dome during a visit, so we need the room for the duration.

Due to the size and turnover of our volunteer pool, we do not have DBS checks for these visits. We that require a teacher or responsible adult is with the children at all times.

Our show times are listed below. On top of this, we add an extra ten or so minutes for a brief Health and Safety talk, entering and exiting the dome, and hopefully some enthusiastic questions!

Our Shows

We have a selection of shows available. Some include a narration track, while others are presented by our volunteers.

We Are Aliens - Explore our solar system and beyond in the hunt for habitable environments and alien life! Produced by NSC Creative, narrated by Rupert Grint. Runtime 25 minutes. Most suitable for ages 7-12.

We Are Astronomers - Uncover the secrets of stars, and learn about some of the instruments scientists use to learn about how our universe works! Produced by NSC Creative, narrated by David Tennant. Runtime 25 minutes. Most suitable for ages 12-16.

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2015 - See photographs taken by amateur astronomers across the world, entered to the 2015 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Produced by Royal Observatory Greenwich. Narration by our volunteers. Runtime 15 minutes. Most suitable for ages 5-10 and family groups.

Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2016 - Similar to the above, for the 2016 Insight Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Produced by Royal Observatory Greenwich. Narration by our volunteers. Runtime 30 minutes. Most suitable for ages 5-10 and family groups.

Each showing needs another 10-15 minutes on top of the runtime for our H&S talk, ingress and egress, and a little time for some questions. The dome can accommodate up to 20 children at a time.

In addition to these shows, we are able to use the Stellarium software to project the night sky onto our dome - handy for looking at constellations without cloud cover!

Our volunteers are also happy to conduct Question and Answer sessions, about any and all areas of astronomy!

Thanks to the generous support of the Physics department, we can offer these visits without charging schools or organisations.